Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, May 28,2017 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister (Patriotic Message) TOPIC: Holiday Messages, Independence Day, Patriotic Sermons If The Foundations Are Destroyed Psalm 11:1-7 (NKJV) If you would, please open your Bibles to the eleventh Psalm. Psalm 11:1-7 (NKJV) 1 In the LORD I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? 2 For look! The wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do? 4 The LORD is in His holy temple, The LORD s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. 5 The LORD tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright. P R A Y E R
Introduction It is very clear to all of us that our children and grandchildren will grow up in an America that is far different than the America you and I knew when we were children. Our children and grandchildren will never know the America that once prohibited the usage of four letter words on TV. They will never know the America where you could leave your doors un-locked and didn't think twice about leaving your car keys in the ignition when you went into a store. Our children and grandchildren will never know the America where businesses closed their doors on Sunday and schools never planned ball games or extra-curricular activities on Wednesday nights out of respect for the Wednesday night Bible studies in the local churches. Our children and grandchildren will never know the America where the word gay meant happy...and pot was something you cooked food in... spam was a can of pre-cooked processed meat...and web was something a spider wove...and tweet was the sound made by a bird. Do you ever wonder what our deceased loved ones would think if they could see what has happened to America since they've been gone. I have a feeling they would roll over in their graves, don't you? ********************************************************************* T R A N S I T I O N I N T O S C R I P T U R E T E X T *********************************************************************
In this ELEVENTH PSALM David asks a very thought-provoking and sobering question: Verse 3 If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? Let's think about the unthinkable for just a moment. Suppose this week a powerful super-cell storm passed through this area that produced a very dangerous F-3 or F-4 tornado; and that tornado struck this Church building. The roof is gone...the brick walls have been blown down... and the Church building has been reduced to a pile of rubble. But underneath all that rubble, the foundation is still in tact. Despite the terrible devastation, we would still have HOPE that we could rebuild our Church building on this same location because the foundation was not destroyed. But suppose, instead of a tornado, our building was reduced to rubble by an earthquake that not only destroyed the walls, but the foundation as well. Because our foundation was destroyed there would be little if any hope at all of rebuilding on this location would there? When David asks, If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do he is not talking about the foundation of a building but rather the foundation of a nation. David is literally asking, When wicked and godless men are destroying the very foundations upon which our nation is built, what can we, as God's people, do about it? As we think about what is happening to our own nation, we can certainly identify with David's frustration can 't we? This is NOT the nation our forefathers had in mind when they framed The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution, is it?
But regardless of whether we are talking about David's Israel of long ago or our America today, there is one Biblical truth that never changes, and that is when a nation destroys the godly foundation upon which she was built, she cannot and will not stand. For the remainder of the message I would like for us to consider two important thoughts. First of all, let's consider... I. The Foundations That Are Being Destroyed 1. There are at least three foundations that are essential to the strength and survival of any nation or society. And when these essential foundations are destroyed, the nation itself is doomed to destruction. (A) THE FOUNDATION OF LAW AND GOVERNMENT IS BEING DESTROYED. No nation can survive without laws and government can it? Without laws and government you have total anarchy and lawlessness. Before the Israelites ever arrived in the Promised Land God gave Moses the LAWS at Mt. Sinai, by which the nation of Israel would be governed. And God made it crystal clear that OBEDIENCE to His laws would result in great blessings, and DISOBEDIENCE to His laws would result in CURSES upon the nation.
Now what does the Old Testament laws used to govern Israel have to do with America? Many of the LAWS and PRECEPTS in our CONSTITUTION are based upon the LAWS and PRECEPTS of God's word. For much of our nation's history, our presidents and our government officials have faithfully upheld THE CONSTITUTION and as a result, God has richly blessed America and set her high above all nations of the earth. But our nation is now being governed by a lawless President who willfully and defiantly violates The Constitution any time he pleases. And as for our Senators and Congressmen, many are either supportive of the President's lawless ways or too spineless to stop him. As a result, our government has eroded to a level of incompetence and ineffectiveness never seen before in the history of our nation. When the foundation of LAW AND GOVERNMENT is destroyed, the nation cannot survive. (B) THE FOUNDATION OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY IS BEING DESTROYED. If you were study the rise and fall of the great civilizations in history you would discover that one common denominator present in the collapse of each of those societies was the breakdown of the home. The home is like a little microcosm of the nation. As goes the home, so goes the nation.
God's plan for marriage and the family is crystal clear. Genesis 2 tells us that God's intention for marriage is that one man and one woman be married for one lifetime. If you look at the divorce statistics over the past one hundred years it is very obvious the foundation of marriage and family in America has been crumbling for a long time. 1920 - one divorce for every seven marriages. 1960 - one divorce for every four marriages. 1980 - one divorce out of every two marriages. TODAY - two out of every three marriages end in divorce. No nation in history has survived that kind of breakdown in marriage and the family. (C) THE FOUNDATION OF MORALITY IS BEING DESTROYED. PROVERBS 14:12 (NKJV) There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. According to a recent survey conducted by McGaughlin and Associates, 74% of Americans believe morals have declined over the past 20 years; and 48% of those polled believe morals have drastically declined over the past 20 years. 59% of Americans now approve of same-sex marriages. 63% approve of sex outside of marriage. 60% think it is morally OK to have a baby outside of marriage. 52% approve of doctor assisted suicide. 42% approve of abortion on demand.
America is the biggest exporter of pornography in the world with $13 billion in annual revenues. That is more than the revenues of the NFL, NBA and MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL combined. I read a very eye-opening article the other day. It was about immigrants who come to America from foreign countries who are shocked and appalled by the lewdness they see on American TV and in our movies. Several who were interviewed in the article stated that citizens in their countries would be arrested and imprisoned or even executed for the kind of lewd behavior they see on American TV. Most immigrant parents are so concerned about the destructive influence American television upon their children, that they forbid their children from watching any TV. What does it say about us that non-christian heathens from other nations are appalled by the immorality they see in our country, and yet we, who are Christians have been exposed to so much immorality, we have almost become desensitized to it. What can the righteous do when wicked men are destroying the foundation of LAW and GOVERNMENT? What can the righteous do when wicked men are destroying the foundation of MARRIAGE and FAMILY? What can the righteous do when wicked men are destroying the foundation of MORALITY? We find our answer in the very first statement of this ELEVENTH PSALM... v. 1a In the LORD I put my trust! Brothers and sisters, as the foundations of our nation are being destroyed, we must believe with all our hearts that OUR HOPE and OUR SECURITY is in GOD ALONE.
You notice in VERSE 5 David says, The Lord tests the righteous. What greater way to have our faith tested than to see the foundations of the nation we have always loved and believed in, crumbling before our eyes? What greater test of our faith than to have the very nation that has always permitted us the freedom to worship GOD, turn against us and attack our Christian values and beliefs? As disheartening and painful as it is to watch our nation spiral downward as she has over the last few decades, is it possible this is it what it has taken to turn our hearts towards... II. The Foundations That Can Never Be Destroyed 1. What are some of our foundations that can never be destroyed? (A) For one we have, THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH IN GOD. vs. 3,4 If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (now listen closely to verse 4) The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. What does this tell us? It tells us that even if the foundations of our nation are destroyed, OUR GOD IS STILL ON HIS THRONE and OUR GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL. Regardless of what lies in store for America's future, OUR FOUNDATION OF FAITH IN GOD CANNOT BE DESTROYED. (B) Secondly, we have THE FOUNDATION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST Do you remember that promise Jesus made in The Parable of The Wise and Foolish Builders?
MATTHEW 7:24,25 (NKJV) Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, FOR IT WAS FOUNDED ON THE ROCK. If our lives were built on the American dream we would certainly have a reason to be concerned wouldn't we? But our lives are not built on the American dream, our lives are built upon Jesus Christ. And regardless of what lies in store for our nation's future, Jesus Christ is still the King of kings and Lord of lords, for He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (C) Thirdly, we have THE FOUNDATION OF GOD'S WORD MATTHEW 24:35 (NKJV) Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. Heaven forbid that there should ever come a time in this nation when it is against the law to own a Bible. But do you realize, even if all our Bibles were confiscated, they could never take the word of God out of our hearts. The truths of God's word can never be destroyed. The promises of God's word can never be broken. The life-changing power of God's word can never be diminished.
WE HAVE THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH IN GOD! WE HAVE THE FOUNDATION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! WE HAVE THE FOUNDATION OF GOD'S WORD! (D) And fourthly, we have THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH Matthew 16:18 (NKJV) Upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it. Have you ever wondered what would happen to the Lord's Church if our government closed every Church door in the land? I'll tell you what would happen. The Lord's true Church will prevail. Just like Christians of old, clusters of Christians all across the land would continue to worship in secret places. You see, THE CHURCH IS FOUNDED UPON JESUS CHRIST, AND BECAUSE CHRIST CANNOT BE DESTROYED, NEITHER CAN HIS CHURCH. C O N C L U S I O N Despite all of our nation's problems, it is still the greatest nation on earth to live in. But realistically, we all know that unless this nation reverses her course, and turns back to GOD, her future is bleak. As the foundations of our nation crumble all around us we must not fear or lose all hope. Instead we must take refuge in OUR FOUNDATIONS THAT CAN NEVER BE DESTROYED: The Foundation of Our Faith in God...The Foundation of The Lord Jesus Christ...The Foundation of God's Word...and The Foundation of The Church. In God, and God alone, we put our trust!